Science of Success: Birkenstocks and the Promise of Healthy Feet

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did a sandal that originally entered the U.S. market as a health product become a fashion staple and the crowning shoe of a multibillion dollar company? Margot Fraser originally brought Birkenstocks to the U.S. thinking that the comfort of the German sandal would appeal to women. But she couldn’t get shoe stores to sell them. They finally made it into the U.S. market through health food stores. Now, the seductively ugly shoe is a cultural icon and was valued at about $8.6 billion when the company went public last year. WSJ’s Ben Cohen explores the history of Birkenstock and how it paved the way for the future of women’s feet. What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] Further reading: Why Americans Are Obsessed With These Ugly Sandals A Key to Birkenstock’s Billion Dollar Success? Its Frumpiest Shoe A Visual History of Birkenstock’s Rise, From Insoles to IPO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:28.5	It all started because Margot Fraser's feet hurt.
0:35.0	Then she found her cure. On a spa vacation to her home country,
0:38.0	the German American tried on her first pair of Birkenstock sandals and she set out on a journey that would make
0:45.1	her one of the most improbable business figures of her time.
0:49.2	I didn't know a thing about shoes. What I did know is my feet were always hurting and on a trip to Germany I found these sandals. They had my feet. There were all these millions of women in the United States. Their feet must be closed too.
1:09.0	That's Margo Fraser speaking at Union Institute and University in 2010.
1:14.0	When Frazier died in 2017, the President of Birkenstock's American Division said,
1:19.0	it is because of Margot and the foundation she built that the brand is enjoying the success that it is today.
1:25.0	But when Fraser first brought the supremely comfy, seductively ugly German sandals to the US,
1:31.0	stores didn't want them. She was betting on two things, the buying power
1:36.5	of women and that she wasn't the only woman whose feet hurt.
1:40.9	Because it was in 1966 shoes were very tight and dainty feet was what every woman was after.
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